Folding-machine



C. P. WINTER.

FOLDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED ocT.1.19'20.

Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

(3.12. Win11; Qi'} STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

couarnnr 2. WINTER, or new :caunswrcx, NEW JERSEY.

' ronnme-macmnn.

aces.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

- Application and October 7, 1'920. Serial No. 415,365.

state.

The invention comprises primarily a plurality of folding rollers of graduated pitch, 7

upon which the web of material is adapted to be passed, whereby the convolutions of the folding rollers form in the web of ma- I bodiment of my terial spaced, parallel folds, which folds are brought closer together as the web of material passesover the rollers, whereby the web is consequently discharged with the folds substantially compacted.

The invention contemplates more particularly the provision of a set of rollers, which may be termed primary rollers, and a set of secondary rollers arranged adjacent the primary rollers in such a manner that they coact to positively compel the web of material to conform to the longitudinal, cross sectional shape of the set of primary rollers.

The invention will be more particularly described and the features thereof more fully illustrated in the accompanying s'peci fication and drawings, in wh1ch Figure 1 -is a top plan .view of one emmaterial in the folding process; F Fig. 2 isNa sectional view on line 2-2 of F ig. 3 is a section-taken on line 3-3 of ig. 4 is a diagrammatic view, similar to Fig. -3, of a modified arrangement of the rollers; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic-mew of a web formed of superimposed sheets during the folding process.

In the drawings the numeral 10 indicates the set of primary rollers. By reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that I have illustrated five rollers as comprising the set of primary rollers, but it is obvious that any number .invention, with a web of' may be used. These rollers are in the form of splral worms, with a graduated pitch in the splral convolutions thereof, these rollers being smaller at their receiving ends 11 and graduating to their discharge ends 12. The rollers are so formed that the distance between the apex 13 and the base 14 of the spiral portions thereof is equal in each instance.

The rollers 10 may be mounted on suitable shafts, such as 15, each shaft 15 carrying a Worm wheel 16 at one end thereof.

he worm gear shaft 17, provided with worms 18, is so positioned as to operatively connect the worms 18 with the worm wheel 16 to drive the rollers 10 at a uniform speed. It is obvious, however, that various forms of mechanism may be provided for driving the rollers 10 at a uniform speed.

A set of secondary rollers 19 is provided, WhlCh is positioned adjacent the set of primary rollers. By referring to Fig. 3, one

arrangement of the set of secondary rollers is illustrated, and in this construction the rollers 19 are superimposed upon the rollers 10. The rollers 19 are shaped similarly to the rollers 10 and positioned so that their spiral portions mesh with the spiral portions ofthe rollers 10, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the set of secondary rollers is provided with two groups, with the spiral portions thereof running in reverse angular directions, for a purpose to be more fully hereinafter described. The rollers 19 are also mounted on suitable shafts 20, and provided with worm 'wheels 21, meshing with worms 22, carried by a shaft 23. In this manner the rollers 19 are driven at a uniform-speed.

In order to provide adjustment between the set of primary rollers and the set of secondary rollers, the shafts 20 carrying the secondary rollers 19 may be adjusted by means of set screws 24; carried'by frames 25 of the supporting structure of the machine. It is also obvious that any other suitable adjusting means may be provided, and that the form'herein shown is just one ofdthe many means for accomplishing this on In order to prevent transverse movement of; the web with respect to the forming rollers, I provide a multiplicity of friction rollers 26, rotatably supported on stud shafts 27, which stud shafts are mounted in a frame 28. This frame 28 may be supported on the frame of the machine in any suitable manner (not shown). In this respect it should be noted that the friction rollers 26 are just one form of obvious friction devices which are applicable to my invention.

In order to feed the web to the forming rollers I provide feeder belts 29, disposed one above the other in such a manner that the web of material may be carried by these belts to properly position them at the receiving ends 11 of the rollers. These belts are suitably carried by rollers 30.

In Fig. 4 another arrangement of the forming rollers is illustrated. In this arrangement the set of primary rollers 10 is separated on each side of the center roller. The set of secondary rollers is illustrated with two of the rollers positioned directly above the adjacent primary rollers, while the two other secondary rollers are disposed between the primary rollers. It is obvious, therefore, that the position of the secondary rollers with respect to the primary rollers may be varied at will, the only essential point being, however, that the line of peripheries of the set of secondary rollers, indicated in Fig. 4 by the line :0, be practi cally in alinement with a line drawn through the bases of the spiral projections. The reason for this arrangement is obvious, inasmuch as by this disposition of the rollers the folds are properly retained in the grooves of the forming rollers. The arrangement of the rollers illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 are merely examples, of the numerous arrangements which may be made of these forming rollers, and if the principle of arrangement illustrated in these two figures is carried out, the number of secondary rollers may be varied at will, as may also the ratio of secondary rollers to the primary rollers.

In operating the device to carry out my invention, a web of material 31 is fed between the rollers 10 and 19 by means of the feedin belts 29. The rollers 10 and 19 are at t is time being rotated at a uniform speed. The web of material, as it is fed over the rollers 10 and 19, is made, therefore, to conform to the profile of the rollers 10 and 19. Inasmuch as these rollers 10 and 19 are driven at a uniform speed, the profile of each roller is identical at any given time, and in consequence, the web is folded at spaced, transverse intervals thereof. As the web travels between the rollers 10 and 19, the distance between the folds in the web becomes less, and when the folds reach the discharge end 12 they are in a comparatively compacted stater The'discharge end of each of the rollers 10 and 19 is provided with a vertical face 32. As the we therefore, is discharged, these vertical faces 32 successively engage the last fold and present a continuousabutment for the folded web.

It is obvious that my invention may be carried out equally as well by the omission of the set of secondary rollers 19. Under such a construction, additional friction rollers 26 would be provided, which would act to hold the web against the primary folding roller 10. \Vith such a construction the operation would be ractically similar. The web, as it advance over the rollers 10, would conform to the rofile thereof, and at the discharge end 0 the roller the web would have assumed the compact folded position.

By forming the set of secondary rollers 19 into two groups, as illustrated in Fig.

l, with the spirals disposed in opposite angular directions, the tendency of the web 31 to creep transversely of the axes of the rollers is prevented, inasmuch as the action of one grou of roller 19 tends to offset the action of t eother roup, and the web is consequent-l passed etween the rollers in a line paral e1 with the axes of the rollers.

By roviding adjustment for the secondary rdllers, my invention may be made to adapt itself to webs of varied thicknesses.

It is also obvious that should a transverse creeping of the web 31 occur, the tendency of this creeping action would be diminished by adjustincr the secondary rollers to move them away from the web.

In Fig. 5 the position of the web during the folding operation is illustrated. In this figure the web is shown as composed of a multiplicity of sheets. It is obvious, however, that the web may be formedpf a single sheet, or that the sizes of the sheets may be varied at will.

In the foregoing I have described several methods of accomplishing the same result by the use of my invention, but it is obvious that with various other modifications my invention may be made to achieve the result equally as well. I therefore specifically reserve the right to make the various and other obvious modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of my in- 11 5 vention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim 1s:

1. A folding mechanism which consists of a plurality of spiral rolls of graduated pitch, in contact with which a web of material to be folded may be passed and caused to conform to the' profile thereof.

2. A folding mechanism which comprises a multiplicity of cooperating spiral rolls of graduated pitch,"1n contact with which a web of material to be folded may be passed,

to cause the same to conform to their profile. 3. A folding mechanism which comprises two sets of cooperating rollers, each set comprising a plurality of spiral rollers of graduated pitch, through which a web of material may be passed, to cause the same to conform to their profile.

4:. A folding mechanism which comprises a multiplicity of cooperating rolls, each roll being spiral shaped and of graduated pitch, said rolls being adapted to contact with a web of material to cause the same to conform to the profile thereof.

5. A folding mechanism consisting of a plurality of co-acting' worm rollers of graduated pitch, said rollers being spaced in such a manner that their convolutions shall be in alinement, said rollers being adapted to contact with a web of material to cause the same to conform to the profile thereof, and means for feeding said web to the rollers in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers.

6. A folding mechanism consisting of a plurality of co-acting worm rollers of graduated pitch, said rollers being spaced in such a. manner that their convolutions. are in alinement, said rollers being adapted to come in contact with a web of material to cause the same to conform to the profile thereof, means for feeding said web to the rollers and means for preventing lateral displacement of the web.

7. A folding mechanism consisting of a plurality of spiral rolls of graduated pitch in contact with which a web of material may be passed and means for preventing lateral displacement of said material.

8. A folding mechanism consisting of a multiplicity'of worm rollers of graduated pitch, means for feeding a Web to said rollers in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers and means for preventing lateral dis placement of the Web.

COURTNEY P. WINTER. 

